Rockets. Orbital stations. Space elevator. Hovercraft trains. All these startling ideas arose in the head of a simple school teacher - K.E. Tsiolkovsky. He believed that one day humanity will be able to overcome the forces of gravity and rise ...

• April 16, 2017, 14:57

Genre:

Orbital stations. Space elevator. Hovercraft trains. All these incredible ideas were born in the head of an ordinary school teacher, who lived at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries. A self-taught scientist without a higher education, who became the founder of Russian cosmonautics. "Kaluga sage", who believed that the development of life on Earth would one day reach such a scale that it would overcome gravity and colonize the Universe. Science fiction writer and supporter of space exploration ideas. A man whose name is undeservedly forgotten today. His work is the whole world. His name is Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. Welcome to space travel of his ...

• March 24, 2016, 19:42

Genre:

"Biology of dwarfs and giants" - the work of the great Russian scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935). *** In this essay, the author explores the unpredictable consequences of changing the proportions of the human body. Other works of the author are “Beyond the Earth”, “The Will of the Universe”, “Living Beings in Space”, “On the Moon”, “Unknown Intelligent Powers” \u200b\u200band “Life of the Universe”. Tsiolkovsky was one of the first scientists who foresaw flights into outer space and believed in the development of the Galaxy by earthlings in the near future. The theme of cosmic discoveries and collisions with other worlds, he devoted many of his ...

• March 24, 2016, 19:42

Genre:

"The Adventures of the Atom" - the story of the great Russian scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935). *** The history of the transfer of an atom from a person’s body to the surrounding world represents the development of one of the theoretical ideas of the author himself - monism, or the structure of the universe. Other works of the author are “Beyond the Earth”, “The Will of the Universe”, “Living Creatures in Space”, “On the Moon”, “Unknown Intelligent Powers”, “Biology of Dwarfs and Giants” and “Life of the Universe”. Tsiolkovsky was one of the first scientists who foresaw flights into outer space and believed in the development of the Galaxy by earthlings in the near future. The theme of cosmic discoveries and collisions with other worlds, he devoted many of his ...

• March 24, 2016, 19:42

Genre:

"Living creatures in space" - an article by the great Russian and Soviet scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935). *** With the evolution of warm-blooded creatures, there was a development of life on Earth, but what would be the existence of animals on other planets? Other works of the author are “Beyond the Earth”, “The Will of the Universe”, “On the Moon”, “Unknown Intelligent Powers”, “Biology of Dwarfs and Giants” and “Life of the Universe”. Tsiolkovsky was one of the first scientists who foresaw flights into outer space and believed in the development of the Galaxy by earthlings in the near future. The theme of cosmic discoveries and collisions with other worlds, he devoted many of his ...

• March 24, 2016, 19:42

Genre:

“Life of the Universe” is a book of the great Russian and Soviet scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935). *** The infinity of the Universe implies the diversity of its life forms, with the help of which a person can comprehend the essence of outer space. Other works of the author are “Beyond the Earth”, “The Will of the Universe”, “Living Beings in Space”, “On the Moon”, “Unknown Intelligent Powers” \u200b\u200band “Biology of Dwarfs and Giants”. Tsiolkovsky was one of the first scientists who foresaw flights into outer space and believed in the development of the Galaxy by earthlings in the near future. The theme of cosmic discoveries and collisions with other worlds, he devoted many of his ...

• February 24, 2016, 18:21

Genre:

“Genius among people” is a work of the great Russian and Soviet scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935). *** Man has mastered many different professions, but has not found an answer to the question of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations in the Universe ... Other works by the author are “Beyond the Earth”, “The Will of the Universe”, “Living Beings in Space”, “On the Moon”, “Unknown intelligent forces”, “Biology of dwarfs and giants” and “Life of the Universe”. Tsiolkovsky was one of the first scientists who foresaw flights into outer space and believed in the development of the Galaxy by earthlings in the near future. The theme of cosmic discoveries and collisions with other worlds, he devoted many of his ...

• February 24, 2016, 18:21

Genre:

“Dreams of Earth and Sky” is a book written by the great Russian scientist and writer Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935). *** The wealth of the Universe is immeasurable ... Everyone who has ever raised his eyes to the starry sky will be convinced of this. The collection of science fiction stories of the author refers us to that distant future, which is prepared for the inhabitants of the Earth, who have mastered space and intergalactic open spaces ... Other works by the author are “Beyond the Earth”, “The Will of the Universe”, “Living Beings in Space”, “On the Moon”, “Unknown intelligent forces”, “Biology of dwarfs and giants” and “Life of the Universe”. Tsiolkovsky was one of the first scientists who foresaw flights into outer space and believed in the development of the Galaxy by earthlings in the near future. The theme of cosmic discoveries and collisions with other worlds, he devoted many of his ...

Alexander Tkachenko

Tsiolkovsky

The path to the stars

Foreword

In the very center of the city of Kaluga stands an unusual monument in the form of a huge rocket sparkling in the sun. And next to her is a bearded man with glasses. Squinting shortly, he looks up at the sky. This is a monument to Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.

Who is he and why was he portrayed next to a rocket? Perhaps he built the very first spaceship? No, the first rocket that went into outer space was made by the famous engineer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.

Well, then, maybe he was the first astronaut to fly a rocket to uncharted worlds? But, of course, everyone knows that the first cosmonaut of the Earth was Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin.

And Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was an ordinary teacher in a small town. And not just in space on a rocket, but even on an airplane, I have never flown in my life. But both Korolev and Gagarin revered for themselves the honor of visiting his small house on the banks of the river. And in Moscow, near the Museum of Cosmonautics, he also has a monument - a rocket soaring into the sky and Tsiolkovsky, watching her flight.

What kind of an amazing person is this and what are the monuments with rockets for him? But we’ll talk about this now.

Flies, flies a rocket around the earth ...

People have long dreamed of going on a space trip. But how to overcome gravity? Try to jump - immediately and feel on yourself this force, which will immediately return you back to the earth. How can scientists defeat her in order to send a spaceship into space? In order to go beyond the limits of gravity, it must accelerate to eight kilometers per second! Or almost twenty-nine thousand kilometers per hour!

And more than a hundred years ago, a simple Kaluga teacher Tsiolkovsky made a discovery that paved the way to space for all of humanity. He invented a rocket - a jet engine!

You can make the simplest jet engine yourself out of an ordinary balloon. Try to inflate it, but do not tie the tail, but let it out of your hands. The ball will immediately begin to rush in different directions, until all the air comes out of it, pushing it forward. This is jet propulsion - the same as in a rocket. Only the rocket is pushed forward not by air, but by a jet of hot gas. And it flies not just anyhow, but at a strictly calculated rate.

Tsiolkovsky proposed to send such a rocket into space. True, in his time, technical capabilities for this did not exist. Cars only learned to ride, motor ships to swim, and airplanes to fly. But Tsiolkovsky believed that someday people would create such engines with the help of which they could escape beyond the boundaries of the Earth. As we now see, he was right. But his contemporaries thought very differently when Tsiolkovsky dreamed of future space travels. Many considered him a dreamer and an eccentric then. Why? And now you yourself will understand.

With an umbrella on ice

Imagine this picture: a snowdrop sweeps along a snowy Kaluga street. It's cold in the yard, February. Rare passers-by wrap themselves in warm coats and sheepskin coats and raise their collars higher. Everyone is in a hurry to quickly get to the warmth and comfort of their home. Only at the corner he shifts from one foot to another of the city man in a uniform overcoat, because he should not leave his post even in such a cold. Suddenly a loud bark of dogs comes from the far end of the street. He’s getting closer, and it’s already seen that a dozen and two stray dogs with indignant barking rush after a strange figure.

This is an elderly man in a long coat and with an open black umbrella, skating down the street to a frozen river. Snow covered his glasses, his beard and long gray hair are also clogged with snow, the hat miraculously rests on the top of the head. But the person’s face is happy, like that of a ten-year-old boy who has fled to the rink from school lessons.

The wind howls, the dogs bark, the man with an umbrella skates past the city, and all this noisy company quickly disappears into the clouds of snow dust.

What is this? - fearfully asks the city man a casual passerby in a heavy beaver coat. - Did the crazy man run away from the hospital? He must be caught before he has done any trouble!

No way, your nobility, - the policeman answers solidly. - We don’t have crazy people on the street. And this is our teacher having fun, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. You must not be local? We all know him here. A man of peace, does not offend flies. So do not be so kind as to worry.

Some kind of disgrace ... - grumbles the lord, sitting down in a covered sled to the cab that drove up. - I can imagine what such a teacher can teach children ...

After a moment, the horses are driven away with an angry gentleman on a snowy street. And the policeman looks after and concludes with a grin:

Definitely not local. Who in Kaluga does not know Tsiolkovsky?

And after all, the city was right! For Kaluga, the eccentricities of Konstantin Eduardovich have long become a familiar thing. In his diary, he writes: “How many times in a storm with an umbrella I rushed across the ice by the force of the wind! It was delicious". Of course, amazing. And dogs - fun! It is a pity that not all the citizens understood that the eccentric, who drives with an umbrella on skates, is a genius who, in a few decades, will glorify their city all over the world. After all, Tsiolkovsky almost did not publish his scientific works, and did not go to Moscow and Petersburg at a conference of scientists. He did not even have a diploma of higher education, because he did not study at the university.

But why did the ingenious Tsiolkovsky not participate in the scientific life of Russia? There was a very respectful and sad reason for this. The fact is that Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was ... deaf.

Brilliant self-taught

Once a boy, Kostya fell ill with scarlet fever. The disease is not that very dangerous: many children were ill with it at that time and usually recovered completely. But Bones scarlet fever gave a very serious complication on the ears. As a result, he almost completely lost his ability to hear at the age of ten. The singing of birds, the voices of friends, music, the sound of the wind in the treetops - all this for him disappeared forever. He could not study together with other children, because he did not hear anything said by the teacher in the lesson.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (Polish Konstanty Ciołkowski, September 5 (17), 1857, Izhevsk, Ryazan province, Russian Empire - September 19, 1935, Kaluga, USSR) - Russian scientist and inventor in the field of aerodynamics, rocket dynamics, aeronautics theory, the founder of modern astronautics.

Born in the family of a forester. Having scarlet fever at the age of 14, Tsiolkovsky almost lost his hearing and studied on his own. In 1879 he passed exams for the title of teacher as an external student. In 1880, Tsiolkovsky was appointed a teacher of arithmetic and geometry at the Borovsk district school (Kaluga province). At this time, the first works of Tsiolkovsky - "Theory of gases" and "Mechanics of the animal organism" (1880-81). He was admitted to the Russian Physicochemical Society.

Since 1884, Tsiolkovsky worked on the problems of creating an airship and a “streamlined” airplane; since 1886, rockets for interplanetary flights. He systematically engaged in the development of the theory of motion of jet vehicles and proposed several of their schemes. In 1892 Tsiolkovsky moved to Kaluga, where he taught physics and mathematics at the gymnasium and the diocesan school. In the same year, his work “Metal controlled balloon” (about the airship) was published. In 1897 Tsiolkovsky constructed the first wind tunnel in Russia with an open working part.

In Soviet times, Tsiolkovsky was mainly concerned with the theory of rocket motion (rocket dynamics). In 1926-29, he developed the theory of multi-stage rocket science, solved important problems related to the movement of rockets in an inhomogeneous gravitational field, the landing of a spacecraft on the surface of planets devoid of atmosphere, considered the influence of the atmosphere on rocket flight, put forward ideas about creating a rocket - an artificial Earth satellite and near-Earth orbital stations. In 1932, Tsiolkovsky substantiated the theory of the flight of jet aircraft in the stratosphere.

Tsiolkovsky’s technical ideas have found application in the design of space rocket technology.

Books (12)

Book collection

Biology of dwarfs and giants
Outside the earth
The will of the universe
A genius among people
Woe and genius

Dreams of Earth and Sky (compilation)
Is there a god
Living things in space
Earth disasters
What type of school is desired

Cosmic philosophy
Self-love, or True Self-Love
Mirages of the future social system (collection)
Monism of the universe
My life

On the moon
Science and Faith
Scientific ethics
Unknown Intelligent Powers
About the soul, about the spirit and about the cause

Public organization of mankind
Social institutions, their advantages and disadvantages
Root cause
Land right
Tradition of the life of the Galilean teacher Jesus, according to Matthew

The Adventures of the Atom
Cosmos cause
Industrial space exploration
Way to the Stars (compilation)
Russian cosmism. Anthology of philosophical thought

Strange coincidences, or dates of my life of a moral nature
Strange case
Creatures above man
Features from my life
What to do on earth
Shield of Scientific Faith (compilation)
Ethereal island

The future of earth and humanity

In the proposed brochure, the famous Russian scientist KE Tsiolkovsky discusses the progress of mankind.

The proposed picture of the successes of mankind is based on the numerous works of the scientist. It implies a quick exit of man beyond the atmosphere, where a launched "shell" will keep at a certain distance from the Earth, like the Moon. The author also suggests a quick settlement of the cosmos ... K. Tsiolkovsky also believed that humanity should pay close attention to its cradle - the Earth. The paper considers ways of its further colonization.

Cosmic philosophy

In his works, the outstanding scientist, inventor, founder of modern cosmonautics K.E. Tsiolkovsky, trying to find the answer to the question: “Are there higher powers, is there a root cause of all things and phenomena?” And confidently, convincingly, without any mysticism, based only on the data of exact science, he answers: “Of course, there is, this is the Universe itself” .

How does she feel about a person? What is his attitude towards his chosen ones, marked with the seal of a genius? How to change the life of a person and society so as not to oppose the will of the universe - you will find reflections on this in this collection of all the main articles of K.E. Tsiolkovsky.

Mirages of the future social structure. Compilation

This collection includes articles by Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky on improving public relations.

The purpose of social development K.E. Tsiolkovsky considered the endless development of man and human society, the salvation of mankind after the depletion of earthly resources and cooling of our sun, space exploration. All aspects of human life are considered by him in terms of compliance with this goal.

Public organization of mankind. Woe and genius

The publication contains two works by K.E. Tsiolkovsky: “Public organization of mankind (calculations and tables)” and “Woe and genius”.

It is published according to the editions of 1928 (“Public Organization of Humanity”) and 1916 (“Woe and Genius”), Kaluga.

The Adventures of the Atom

The history of one atom, its migration from body to body, its life in these bodies, its impressions of being in plants, animals and people.

In this short story, the position of K.E. Tsiolkovsky on the structure of the Universe (his famous monism) from the perspective of which the structure of human society is considered.

Cosmos cause

K.E. Tsiolkovsky argued that he developed the theory of rocket science only as an application to his philosophical research. He wrote more than 400 works, which are little known to the general reader due to their many years of silence.

This book is an attempt to break through the "conspiracy of silence" around the philosophy of the Russian cosmic seer, a student of the Russian philosopher N. N. Fedorov, the discoverer and resolver of the complex of problems posed to human civilization by the beginning of the "space era".

New thinking is impossible without exposing the “ordinary consciousness”, without searching for the meaning of life beyond everyday life in the unity of the inhabited cosmos.

Why don't people fly like birds?

A.N. Ostrovsky. "Storm"

By the 10th century, the Chinese had learned to use rockets. They were used mainly for pyrotechnic needs, but if necessary, “besieged by fire” burned besieged fortresses and cities. In Europe, the British used rockets for military purposes in 1791, during the war in India. The artillery officer William Congreve in 1806 proposed to use them against Napoleon. The first missile strike was delivered by the British in 1814, but not against the troops of the French emperor, but against their allies - the Americans. Fort McHenry, near Baltimore, was under fire for a day (by the way, it was after this attack that the words for the US anthem were written, including a line about the "scarlet flame of rockets"). Then the rapid development of artillery pushed the issue of missiles into the background, and until the middle of the 20th century they were most often used as holiday pyrotechnics.

The first to think about the space use of rockets and scientifically substantiate their advantage over all other methods of interplanetary travel Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. True, many had dreamed about the optimal way to travel in outer space before him - from Cyrano de Bergerac to Jules Verne, but the list of dreamers was mostly limited to people of art.

However, the inventor’s calculations were based not only on the fantasies of Jules Verne (by the way, it was precisely the technical mistakes of the science fiction that pushed Tsiolkovsky to justify the capabilities of the rockets). In 1861, the fundamental work of General N. Konstantinov appeared, and twenty years later, German Gansvindt developed a plan for his designed ship of the Universe, driven by the power of rockets. On March 23, 1881, N. Kibalchich, a bomber-bomber in the death row of the Shlisselburg fortress, sketched his project for an “aeronautical device” - a missile dispersed by multiple powder explosions and flying in a given direction (though his ideas remained unknown for several decades: police officials avoided “ inappropriate interpretations ”filed the bomber's calculations and the Kibalchich’s project was found in the archive only in August 1917, and published in 1918). In 1896, Tsiolkovsky familiarized himself with the book by A. P. Fedorov, “A New Method of Aeronautics,” in 1897, with I. Meshchersky's article “Dynamics of a Variable Mass Point” and used the formula he found in his calculations of rocket speed.

Indeed, the formula of Konstantin Eduardovich was, as they say, on the tip of the pen. But "only Tsiolkovsky thought of the fact that rockets can be used for space exploration, and mathematically substantiated this idea." The author of the above phrase possessed sufficient authority to be listened to. This is the legendary designer Sergey Korolev.

At one time, not without the participation of the Queen himself, a legend was created about the pilgrimage of a young engineer to Kaluga to meet with Tsiolkovsky. “Today,” Y. Golovanov noted, “this story is considered doubtful, but copies of the scientist’s books from the personal library of S. P. Korolev are completely covered with his pencil notes. And the academician himself emphasized that "time sometimes inexorably erases the appearance of the past, but the ideas and works of Konstantin Eduardovich will more and more attract attention as rocketry develops further."

In the autumn of 1923, many years of correspondence began with K. E. Tsiolkovsky and V. Glushko, the future creator of Soviet rocket engines. Working in the Gas-dynamic laboratory in Leningrad, V.P. Glushko achieved the practical embodiment of the scientist's concepts. Leading developers of the Jet Institute (head of the institute I. Kleimenov, his deputy M. Tikhonravov, Yu. Pobedonostsev, Yu. Kondratyuk and others) also collaborated with Tsiolkovsky. The further fate of space enthusiasts was not easy. In the early days of the war, Yuri Kondratyuk died at the front, Valentin Glushko began work on rocket boosters for military aircraft, and Yuri Pobedonostsev switched to Katyusha, the first tests of which took place during the fighting.

Tsiolkovsky himself for a long time believed that the exit of mankind into space is a task that can be carried out not earlier than the 21st, or even the 21st century. However, when he saw the first successes in rocket science that were achieved by V. Glushko, S. Korolev and their colleagues, he completely revised his forecasts regarding the prospects of man's launch into space.

Konstantin Eduardovich was the first to show that human activity should not be limited to the Earth, theoretically substantiated the possibility of interplanetary flights. His ideas became the basis of the foundations, without which there could be no talk of any cosmonautics. That is why the role of the scientist is difficult to overestimate here. Were it not for him, cosmonautics in its present form and at the present level of development would most likely not exist. Of course, sooner or later a person would have come up with such ideas. But when? In what century? Such people are not born every century. Tsiolkovsky was far ahead of his time, and therefore many of his ideas were unclaimed. However, can this belittle his merits as the inspirer of many dozens of engineers who were able to finally realize the plans and dreams of the scientist? I think not. Moreover, in this case, the role of the missionary, preacher of the cosmic future of the human race seems no less important than the mathematical and technical details of the implementation of interplanetary flights. “Rocket for me is only a way, only a method of penetrating into the depths of space, but by no means an end in itself ... There will be a different way of moving in space - I will accept it too ... The whole point is in relocation from the Earth and in the settlement of outer space,” wrote K. E. Tsiolkovsky , the first ideologist and theorist in space exploration. The ultimate goal seemed to him like this: a person will not just populate the cosmos, but complete biochemical measurements of his body will occur, which will require new forms of social structure. The scientist put forward projects for the organization of mankind on a new basis, in which the ideas of social utopias of various eras (including eugenic) are intertwined.

In the last quarter of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Konstantin Eduardovich created a new science that defines the laws of motion of rockets, and developed the first structures for space exploration with rocket-propelled devices. The works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky on rocket dynamics and the theory of interplanetary communications were the first serious investigations on this problem in the world scientific and technical literature. The scientist's work on jet propulsion is not limited to theoretical calculations. They also give practical instructions to the design engineer on the design and manufacture of individual parts, the choice of fuel, the shape of the nozzle, discusses the issues of creating flight stability in airless space, the effect of the atmosphere on rocket flight, and calculates the necessary fuel reserves to overcome the drag forces of the Earth’s air shell .

The works of an outstanding scientist have a well-deserved authority not only here, but also in the West. Here is what the Encyclopedia Britannica writes about him: “K. E. Tsiolkovsky is a Russian astronautical scientist who became a pioneer in the field of rocket and space research, and also for the first time created and applied a wind tunnel. He was also one of the first space flight theorists. ” In other, less fundamental Western sources they write about him as the founder of the theory of rocket science, they call him not only an inventor and an aircraft engineer, but also a real visionary. Cliff Lethbridge bluntly declares that Tsiolkovsky plays a huge role in the fact that the USSR was the first to enter outer space, and considers the influence of the theories of the self-taught scientist on the first generation of Russian engineers, specialists in the field of rocket and space technology as undeniable.

The question arises: how did Konstantin Eduardovich find the strength in himself to work “for a table” for so many years? After all, his ideas were appreciated after he was sixty, in the 20s of the last century. Until 1917, the scientist vegetated, and his theories had no chance of embodiment. He himself explained his perseverance as follows: “The main motive of my life is not to live life for nothing, to advance humanity at least a little bit forward. That’s why I was interested in what gave me neither bread nor strength, but I hope that my work - maybe soon, or maybe in the distant future - will give society mountains of bread and an abyss of power. ” And he added: “... By nature or by nature, I am a revolutionary and a communist. Why didn’t an active revolutionary come out of me? The reasons are as follows.

1. Deafness since ten years, which made me weak and an outcast.

2. The absence, as a result, of comrades, friends, and public relations.

3. For the same reason: ignorance of life and material helplessness.

The outcome of my reformist aspirations was one: technology, science, invention and natural philosophy. At first, all this was in the realm of dreams, and then my innovation began to creep out and was the reason that repelled faithful, undoubted scientists from me. I was an upstart reformer and as such was not recognized. Who could agree with a man who dared to shake the very foundations of science? ”

In fact, Tsiolkovsky has for many years been driven by the energy of failure. He tried to prove his own innocence, and this gave him strength. Moreover, his life is an example of the biography of a self-taught fanatic who put scientific experiments and philosophical thoughts above everything else: health, love, family, relative affluence, and well-being of children. Already in his declining years, the scientist wondered how justified the sacrifices he had made, but he did not find a definite answer.

* * *

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was born on September 17, 1857 in the Ryazan province, in the village of Izhevsk Spassky Uyezd. The Polish noble family of Tsiolkovsky came from Volyn, according to family traditions, the rebel Severin Nalyvaiko was among their ancestors. The official pedigree was conducted since 1697: the first in the papers was mentioned the nobleman Jacob Tsiolkovsky. From him "came Valenty, the owner of the estate with. Great Tsiolkovo. From him came Felitsian, and from this Thomas, father of Ignatius with his sons, among whom Makar-Eduard-Erasmus (Eduard Ignatievich) - the father of Konstantin Eduardovich.

Tsiolkovsky’s mother, Maria Ivanovna, came from the Ryazan nobles of the Yumashevs, an Russified Tatar clan that dates back to the 16th century. True, the Yumashevs were most famous in the twentieth century. Hero of the Soviet Union Andrei Yumashev, as part of the crew of Mikhail Gromov, participated in the legendary flight to the United States via the North Pole (1937). Admiral Ivan Yumashev from 1939 to 1947 commanded the Pacific Fleet, and in 1950–1951 he was the Minister of the Navy of the USSR. The most famous journalist in the eighties, Valentin Yumashev was the Head of the Presidential Administration in 1997-1998, replacing Anatoly Chubais.

By the time Konstantin was born, his father, Eduard Ignatievich Tsiolkovsky, had been a forester in the village of Izhevsk for eleven years (since 1846). Apparently, the place of service and she herself suited him. Although the rank in the Table of Ranks Tsiolkovsky Sr. had a small - college secretary, but at that time in any village (as well as in the modern one) the forest ranger was considered an authoritative figure. However, in May 1860, Eduard Ignatievich petitioned his superiors to transfer him to Ryazan “for family reasons” and soon took a place in the provincial chamber of the Forest Department of the Ministry of State Property there. Eduard Tsiolkovsky was transferred to the Ryazan Chamber of the Forestry Department as a clerk, that is, in modern terms, an ordinary clerk.

What “family circumstances” could have forced Eduard Tsiolkovsky to move from the village where he lived for fourteen years and where he was considered, presumably, an important person?

The Tsiolkovsky had a large family - Maria Ivanovna gave birth to thirteen children (three of them survived until adulthood - Konstantin, his brother Joseph and sister Maria) - and the position of a forester, apparently, could no longer feed her.

In 1861, Eduard Tsiolkovsky received the rank of titular adviser and began to teach natural history in land surveying and taxiating classes at the gymnasium. The family lived in Ryazan until 1868, when, as a result of the closure of classes, Eduard Tsiolkovsky “with a large family and a lack of material means, having an extreme need for further service”, had to look for a new place.

The Tsiolkovsky decided to move to Vyatka - there lived the brothers Eduard - Narciz and Stanislav. Narciz Tsiolkovsky held a high official position for special assignments under the Vyatka governor, and Stanislav rose to the rank of major general. Under the patronage of the brothers, Eduard Ignatievich was appointed head of the Vyatka chamber of the Forest Department.

Remembering his father, K. E. Tsiolkovsky wrote that he “was always cold, restrained. He looked grim. Rarely laughed. There was a terrible critic and debater. I did not agree with anyone, but did not seem to get excited. He was distinguished by a strong and difficult character for others. He did not touch or offend anyone, but everyone was embarrassed with him. We were afraid of him, although he never allowed himself to either ulcerate, swear, or even fight. ” The mother of the future scientist was of a completely different nature: "sanguine nature, fever, laughter, mocking and gifted." Konstantin Eduardovich wrote about her in her autobiography: “Character prevailed in the father, willpower, and talent in the mother. The temperament of the father tempered the natural fervor and frivolity of the mother. I think I got a combination of my father’s strong will and mother’s talent. ” From his father K. E. Tsiolkovsky got a predilection for invention and construction: “The elder brothers said that he built models of houses and palaces with them. He encouraged all physical labor in us and in general initiative. ”

Konstantin showed his initiative and independence in early childhood: he always broke all the toys to see what was inside them, learned to read fluently from Afanasyev’s fairy tales found somewhere, and thus became addicted to reading (“... I read everything that was and what could be get it ").

At the same time, the boy was not predisposed to any formalized acquisition of knowledge: “Learning was tight and painful, although I was capable. They will ask on a small blackboard to write a page, two. Even sick of tension. But when you finish this teaching, what a pleasure you feel from freedom. Mother was engaged with us. My father also made pedagogical attempts, but was impatient and spoiled the business ... ”At the same time, he liked to dream. Here is what Tsiolkovsky wrote about himself: “I even paid my younger brother to listen to my ravings. We were small, and I wanted houses, people and animals - everything was also small. Then I dreamed of physical strength. I, mentally, jumped high, climbed, like a cat, on poles, on ropes. He dreamed of a complete absence of gravity. He loved to climb fences, roofs and trees. Jumped off the fence to fly. Both water and ice made me dreamy. ”

Tsiolkovsky was very fond of water. All his life he settled closer to the river. He especially loved the Vyatka River. The reason for this was the complete freedom that Eduard Ignatievich and Maria Ivanovna provided to the children. Konstantin was not slow to use it and very soon learned to swim.

Even in floods, the most dangerous time on the river, the boys rushed to the water. The sport they were fond of was by no means harmless - ice-skating, jumping from one to another. Once, taking dirty water for an ice floe (probably brought nearsightedness), Konstantin jumped with the decisiveness that only an eleven-year-old boy is capable of, not understanding that he is jumping towards death.

The field of his bold campaigns turned out to be the old city church: together with his friends, he more than once climbed the dilapidated bell tower. To get to the belfry, to hit the bell was both a pleasure and a sign of outstanding valor. But even the boys gasped when they saw once how Konstantin climbed even higher - to a small balcony near the top of the bed. The whole Vyatka lay below, under her feet. Looking at the city from above was very interesting. And then Konstantin did something that clearly should not have been done - he shook the fence of the balcony. A dilapidated building came underfoot. It got scary. It seemed that the old bell tower was about to burst from under its feet. The feeling of unbridled fear was so strong that he remembered him for life and more than once appeared in dreams ...

In a word, Tsiolkovsky’s early childhood was no different from the lives of ordinary children. “The conclusion is interesting,” he wrote, evaluating his early years. “But perhaps it’s not new: you can’t guess what will come out of a man ... We love to decorate the childhood of great people, but it’s almost artificial, because of a biased opinion ... However, I personally think that the future of a child is never predicted.”

A turning point in the boy’s life occurred when he was nine years old. He fell ill with scarlet fever, and the ailment gave a complication - severe hearing loss, and later almost complete deafness. “The consequences of the disease, the lack of clear sounds, sensations, disconnection with people, humiliation of kalechestvo - greatly stupid me. Whether this was a consequence of the dullness or temporary unconsciousness inherent in my age and temperament, I still do not know. I am more inclined to believe that dullness was more likely from deafness and illness. ” All his life Tsiolkovsky considered himself a cripple and found justification for his misfortunes in this. With deafness, he explained his isolation and lack of communication, inability to establish a connection with the scientific world, etc. But he also saw in it an explanation of his successes in the scientific field: “I was demeaned all the time by deafness, poor life and dissatisfaction. She urged on my will, forced me to work, to search ... Only extreme tension of forces made me what I am. ”

Despite the hearing problems, in 1869 his father sent Konstantin, along with his younger brother Ignatius, to the first class of the Vyatka men's gymnasium. There are many subjects, and it was not easy to learn, especially a half-deaf child. In general, the future scientist did not shine with success - he stayed in the second year in the second year, and after the third he even said goodbye to the gymnasium: in 1873, together with nine classmates, he was expelled “to enter those. school ".

Difficulties with studies were aggravated by the fact that in the thirteenth year of life, Konstantin lost his mother. The father earned his livelihood and practically did not deal with children, so aunt was invited to raise them after the death of their mother. But she was illiterate and could not help the boy in school. Ekaterina Ivanovna Yumasheva children “did not particularly love and respect. But she was still very gentle and never offended us: neither with a cry, nor with a push. She had a tendency to exaggerate everything and even lie. ”

Thus, the gymnasium years became for Konstantin Tsiolkovsky “the saddest, darkest time” of life. And since the boy was rather proud and he was probably tired of catching sympathetic glances, he woke up to the desire to prove his usefulness to others, “to look for great things in order to earn the approval of people and not be so despicable ...” This feeling did not leave him all the rest a life.

“About fourteen-fifteen years old,” wrote Tsiolkovsky, “I became interested in physics, chemistry, mechanics, astronomy, mathematics, etc. There were, however, not enough books, and I was more immersed in my own thoughts. I, without stopping, thought, based on what I read. I did not understand much, there was no one to explain and it was impossible with my lack. This all the more aroused the initiative of the mind ... ”Then Konstantin began to talk about flying to the stars, but Eduard Ignatievich, using the fullness of his father’s power, cut off these conversations, which seemed to him a manifestation of madness. “Even in my early youth, after my first acquaintance with physics, I dreamed of space travel,” the scientist later recalled. “I expressed these thoughts among those around me, but they stopped me as a person saying indecent things.”

At the same time, Konstantin masters all kinds of crafts: houses, sledges, watches with weights, models of self-moving strollers and locomotives, and once even assembled a real lathe. The design of the machine has significantly changed the opinion of Eduard Ignatievich about his son, whom he had already waved his hand for a long time. And his father looked at Konstantin with completely different eyes when he won in a dispute with the creator of the “perpetual motion machine”. The scheme proposed by the inventor looked so believable that even the capital's newspapers wrote about the outstanding achievement of Russian science. However, no references to the authority of Petersburgers could shake the young man, and sixteen-year-old Tsiolkovsky found a mistake made by the creator of “perpetuum mobile”. Actually, in this dispute the nature of the further scientific activity of Konstantin Eduardovich was manifested - not to take anything on faith, but to verify all facts experimentally.

One way or another, but his father decided to send Konstantin to Moscow to get acquainted with industry and continue his education. He hoped that his son would be able to make useful contacts in Moscow and attach himself to some business. However, as Tsiolkovsky’s biographer B.N. Vorobyov wrote, “... no one even thought of paying attention to the young provincial ... The difficult financial situation, deafness and practical inability to live contributed the least to revealing his talents and abilities.”

K. E. Tsiolkovsky lived in Moscow for three years. All this time he devoted himself to self-education, spending days in the library, and in the evenings arranging chemical and physical experiments in his room, which he rented from the laundresses. In the first year, he carefully and systematically studied the course of elementary mathematics and physics: “Often, reading a theorem, I myself found a proof. And I liked it more and was easier than tracing the explanation in the book. In the second year he was engaged in higher mathematics - he studied the course of higher algebra, differential and integral calculus, analytic geometry, spherical trigonometry, almost independently passed analytical mechanics. ” In general, according to the testimony of the scientist himself, in Moscow he was primarily fond of exact sciences. “I avoided any uncertainty. On this basis, even now, I do not recognize either Einstein, Lobachevsky or Minkovsky with their followers. The famous young publicist Pisarev made me tremble with joy and happiness. In him, I then saw the second "I". Already in adulthood, I looked at him differently and saw his mistakes. " Nevertheless, most of the views of the young critic K.E. Tsiolkovsky shared throughout his life and called him one of his teachers most respected ... Pisarev’s influence is felt both in the scientist’s works of art and in his philosophical concept.

In particular, DI Pisarev denied the value of speculative knowledge and praised the natural sciences - and this was close to the self-taught Tsiolkovsky, who strove to try everything “by the tooth”. True, the inventor was not as radical as the publicist, who reduced science to the description of directly observable facts and yet recognized the value of theoretical knowledge. However, he agreed with Pisarev that only the natural sciences could provide the knowledge necessary for the prosperity of mankind, and the intellectual elite — representatives of intellectual labor, an educated and thinking minority — could be the bearer of progress. Tsiolkovsky constantly developed this idea, it became the cornerstone of his essentially eugenic concept of the structure of human society, presented in the brochure “Woe and Genius” (1916).

Pisarev saw the ideal of social order in that the poor could earn their own food. And again Tsiolkovsky agreed - he himself represented the ideal society that way.

Pisarev came to the thought of the harmfulness of art (it distracts from the study of natural science, and hence from social progress). The existence of art can be justified only by popularization of natural science knowledge with its help - and Tsiolkovsky became a science fiction writer, a propagandist of space flights, and did not recognize the value of poetry until the end of his days.

In the book “A Simple Teaching on the Aircraft and its Construction,” Tsiolkovsky wrote: “Systematically, I studied a little ... I read only what could help me solve issues of interest to me, which I considered important ...”. And important questions seemed extremely interesting to him. Is it possible to practically use the energy of the Earth? Is it possible to arrange a train around the equator in which gravity would not be felt? Is it possible to design metal balloons, always flying in the air? Is it possible to use crushed steam in high-pressure steam engines? Is it possible to use centrifugal force to rise beyond the atmosphere, into heavenly spaces? “And I came up with such a machine,” Konstantin Eduardovich reported in his autobiography. - I was so delighted with this invention that I could not sit still and went to dispel the stifling joy on the street. He wandered around Moscow for an hour or two at night, reflecting and checking his discovery. But, alas, still expensive? I realized that I was mistaken. However, the short delight was so strong that I have seen this device in my sleep all my life: I climb it with great charm. ”

Why does the young man have such a genuine interest in the possibility of interplanetary travel? Apparently, the case was as follows. Tsiolkovsky spent whole days in the Chertkovskaya (at that time - Rumyantsev) library. The collection of books here was first-class: it came "according to a copy of everything in Russia printed, engraved and lithographed by both private individuals and government departments ... a copy of manuscripts and books photographed in Russia ... confiscated or retained by censorship institutions or customs of foreign publications". In the reading room of the Rumyantsev library were L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, D.I. Mendeleev and many others.

But the main thing was not even that - the last quarter of the 19th century (since 1868) was on duty at the hall was the “ideal librarian” N.F. Fedorov, “a friend of Tolstoy and an amazing philosopher and modest,” as K. E. Tsiolkovsky wrote about him . Thanks to Fedorov, Konstantin Eduardovich deeply perceived and actively preached the idea of \u200b\u200bnot even about the possibility - about the inevitable need for space exploration by man. And although the main work of the “ideal librarian” “Philosophy of the Common Affair” was published only after his death, in 1904, the manuscript was in circulation even during the life of Fedorov. It was apparently read by Konstantin Eduardovich: a comparison of Fedorianism (the philosophy of its author) and the work of a scientist shows that the creator of rocket theory was in many respects a like-minded person and the successor of the “mysterious thinker,” as the prominent Russian philosopher S. Bulgakov called Fedorov.

In his work, N. F. Fedorov expressed the idea that “the Earth is only the starting point. The field for man is a whole universe. ” He called for the unification of all mankind to fight for the lofty goals of existence and considered his conception to be true Christianity. Fedorianism influenced not only Tsiolkovsky, but also the great Russian philosophers N. Berdyaev and V. Vernadsky, and Leo Tolstoy was proud that he lived “at the same time as a similar person.”

However, the cosmic philosophy of Konstantin Eduardovich gravitated not to Christianity, but rather to Buddhism. This is largely due to the fact that the scientist spent the bulk of his creative life in Kaluga, the center of the Russian Theosophical movement, where domestic and translated books on Theosophy and Eastern mysticism were printed. “The fact that Tsiolkovsky was close to Eastern ideas is evidenced even by his essay“ Nirvana ”, published in 1914,” writes Father Alexander Men in his article “Tsiolkovsky and Atheism”. “Thoughts very close to Buddhism, he expressed in the pamphlet“ Mind and Passion ”(1928), depicting an ideal being devoid of passions, and almost literally repeating some passages from Buddhist sacred literature.”

The fruit of the combined influence of Fedorianism and Eastern mysticism was the "cosmic religion", which Tsiolkovsky called "monism." In particular, the idea of \u200b\u200bspiritual bliss of atoms into which a person breaks up after death was presented in the teaching. The scientist believed that spirituality is inherent in all nature, each atom, and believed in the existence of intelligent intangible inhabitants of outer space. The universe, according to his teaching, goes back to the Highest Cause: “What happens and develops,” he wrote, “the course of this development depends on the initial Cause, which is outside of nature. So it all depends on God. God is the cause of all phenomena, the cause of matter and all its laws. ” However, the idea of \u200b\u200bthe divine in Tsiolkovsky is quite peculiar. In 1925, he published in Kaluga a special pamphlet entitled The Cause of the Cosmos, substantiating his understanding of God. This book, for obvious reasons, is little known, and Father Alexander Men cites its conclusion, omitted in the 1986 reprint: “The reason is incomparable with his creation, as it creates matter and energy, which the cosmos cannot do. For her, what is limited is that even for the highest human mind it is primordial and infinite. Space for her is a certain thing, one of the many products of Reason. The reason created the Universe in order to give atoms unclouded happiness. She is therefore kind. So, we can not expect anything bad from her. Her kindness, happiness, wisdom and power are endless in relation to the same properties of the cosmos. "

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky believed that sooner or later a person would have to master “all the solar heat and light” and begin to settle in the vastness of the solar system. Rockets are the primary solution to the problem, over time, people will overcome their form, become radiant, thinking creatures of a spherical shape. The main thing is to transform into "radiant humanity" and begin the process of "colonization" of the entire near-solar space, transforming first the asteroid belt, and then the matter of the natural satellites of the planets.

However, all these philosophical concepts and the mathematical calculations that follow logically from them, showing the reality of their implementation, appeared much later. In the meantime, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky lived in Moscow, literally interfering from bread to water, read textbooks on the exact and natural sciences and checked their position in practice. Of course, he did not make any connections and acquaintances; he did not find any application to his technical talents. He received 10-15 rubles a month from home. “I ate only black bread, didn’t even have potatoes and tea,” Tsiolkovsky recalled. - Every three days I went to the bakery and bought there for 9 kopecks. of bread. So I lived 90 kopecks. per month. But he bought books, tubes, mercury, sulfuric acid and so on. Aunt imposed a lot of stocking on me and sent to Moscow. I decided that you can walk perfectly without them, sold them for nothing and bought alcohol, zinc, sulfuric acid, mercury and so on with the money received. Thanks to acids, I walked in pants with spots and holes. The boys on the street noticed me: "What is it, mice, or something, ate your pants?". I walked with long hair because I had no time to cut my hair. Ridiculous must have been scary. I was still happy with my ideas, and brown bread did not upset me at all. It never crossed my mind that I was starving and exhausting myself. ”

Nevertheless, under such conditions, he did not escape the pangs of love. Here is how Tsiolkovsky himself recalled this: “My mistress was washing a well-known millionaire Ts to the rich house. There she talked about me. Daughter Ts was interested. The result was her long correspondence with me. Finally, she stopped when the girl’s parents found the correspondence suspicious, and then I received the last letter. I have never seen a correspondent, but this did not stop me from falling in love and suffering for a short time. It is interesting that in one of the letters to her I assured my subject that I am such a great person who has not yet been, and never will be. Even my girl in her letter laughed at it. And now I am ashamed to recall these words. But what is self-confidence, what is courage, bearing in mind the miserable data that I combined in myself! True, even then I was thinking about conquering the Universe. ”

As a result, the father recalled his son home to Vyatka. In September 1876, Konstantin returned home and since October became a tutor of under-performing gymnasium students. Father’s connections helped me get my first orders, and later on “I was successful,” Tsiolkovsky wrote in his autobiography, “and soon I was bombarded with these lessons. Grammar school students spread fame about me, as if I explain algebra very clearly! ”Having earned some money, the young tutor rented a room and set up a workshop in it, where he continuously conducted various experiments.

At the end of 1877, Eduard Tsiolkovsky retired and decided to return with his family to Ryazan. He wanted to buy a house with a garden where he was going to live his life calmly. However, after the move, it turned out that there was not enough accumulated funds for the house, and I still had to rent housing.

Konstantin settled separately from his father and again equipped a laboratory in his house, although it turned out to be much more difficult to do science in Ryazan than in Vyatka. However, the young man did not abandon his research. Even in Vyatka, he studied Newton's “Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” and became acquainted with celestial mechanics. In Ryazan, Tsiolkovsky drew the diagrams of the solar system, carefully plotting the orbits of the planets, compiled astronomical tables in which he wrote down the density of different planets compared to the Earth, with respect to water, the magnitude of the attraction of the mass on the planet’s surface, the time of rotation around the axis, the velocity of the equatorial points, surface area, volume and mass of the celestial body. “Astronomy fascinated me,” the scientist later explained his passion, “because I have considered and still consider not only the Earth, but also the Universe as the property of human posterity.” The subject of Tsiolkovsky’s thoughts is extensive - phenomena on a pendulum and swing, in a carriage starting or ending its movement, in a cannonball, where “increased heaviness” arises. He is concerned about how the living creatures will endure the “increased weight”, are interested in weightlessness and overload, the “spindle-shaped tower hanging without support over the planet and not falling due to centrifugal force” and “the rings surrounding the planet without atmosphere, with which you can ascend to heaven and descend from them, as well as go on a space journey. " The young researcher built a centrifugal machine - the forerunner of those centrifuges on which astronauts train today - and began “... experiments with different animals, exposing them to heavy gravity on special, centrifugal machines. I couldn’t kill any living creature, and I didn’t have this goal, but I only thought that this could happen. I remember that I increased the weight of the red cockroach extracted from the kitchen 300 times, and the weight of the chicken 10 times; I did not notice then that the experience brought them any harm. "

He apparently hoped to continue tutoring, but due to the lack of the necessary acquaintances, he could not find students. The remnants of the Vyatka savings quickly melted, and Tsiolkovsky again found himself in need. Science - all the more abstract - could not feed the young man, and Konstantin Eduardovich, who had undeniable pedagogical abilities, decided to become a teacher. He no longer wanted to depend on chance.

And in the autumn of 1879, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky passed exams on the right to teach arithmetic and geometry in county schools as an external student. The externs worried frantically. The Law of God seemed especially terrible, and he, as if for sin, went first. It was worth failing - and it's over! Those who failed to overcome this barrier were not allowed to further tests. The examiners of future teachers paid special attention to God's law. “I, as a self-taught person,” wrote Tsiolkovsky, “had to pass the“ complete exam. ” This meant that I had to cram the catechism, worship ... and other wisdom that I had never been interested in before. It was hard for me ... ”No wonder that at the first question Konstantin“ was confused and could not utter a word ”. He was regretted: they put him on a sofa, gave a five-minute rest. The nervous tension subsided, and the young man answered without hesitation. Then the young man conducted a test lesson in an empty classroom and successfully passed the exam. Four months later, in the winter of 1880, he was appointed to the Borovsk district school of the Kaluga province and went to the duty station.

Borovsk was known for having once imprisoned the Archpriest Avvakum, one of the famous schismatics here, and noblewoman Morozova was also exiled here, and the Old Believers followed them. From generation to generation they have been honoring the commandment: “Do not pray, do not wrestle, do not scold, do not make friends with a shritus, a tobacco-bearer, a shchepotnik and any shredded snout. The Old Believers did not want to let a person who did not profess their faith wait, so Tsiolkovsky found a home in the house of a priest of the same faith church, Evgraf Nikolayevich Sokolov. A few months later, on August 20, 1880, the daughter of a priest Varvara Evgrafovna Sokolova became his wife. Konstantin Eduardovich created a family without love, not wanting to be distracted from scientific studies.

However, the biographer of the scientist M. Arlazorov writes: “Life did not spoil Tsiolkovsky too much. All ten years after the death of his mother, he felt lonely and abandoned. Naturally, he wanted affection, warm female attention. But, ready to give his wife a stock of unspent feelings, Tsiolkovsky is still shy and embarrassing towards an outsider. ” Konstantin Eduardovich himself wrote the exact opposite: “It was time to marry, and I married without love, hoping that such a wife would not turn me around, would work, and would not prevent me from doing the same. This hope was justified. Such a friend could not drain my strength: firstly, she did not attract me, and secondly, she herself was indifferent and unemotional. So she retained strength and ability to mental activity until she was old. I attached only practical value to marriage. We went to marry for four miles, on foot, did not dress up, did not let anyone into the church. They returned - and no one knew anything about our marriage. On the wedding day, I bought a lathe from a neighbor and cut glass for electric cars. ”

It was a strange marriage, although the couple remained faithful to each other and from the outside seemed like a loving husband and wife. Towards the end of life, the poverty of their own family ties began to reach Tsiolkovsky. In his autobiography, he wrote: “Was it good: marriage life without love? Is marriage just enough respect? Who gave himself to higher goals is good for that. But he sacrifices his happiness and even the happiness of the family. I did not understand the latter then. But then it showed up. From such marriages, children are not healthy, successful and joyful, and all my life I lamented the tragic fate of children. ” And one more thing: “I put the blessing of the family and loved ones on the forefront. All for high. I did not drink, did not smoke, did not spend a single extra penny on myself: for example, on clothes. I was always almost starving, poorly dressed. He moderated himself in everything to the last degree. My family also suffered with me ... I was often annoyed and maybe made the life of others difficult, nervous ... ”However, the philosophical views of Tsiolkovsky’s personal experiences did not affect him at all - he was a consistent preacher of eugenic utopia, where there was no place for love, and married life determined by biological and intellectual expediency.

Many years later, having buried her husband, Varvara Evgrafovna recalled the wedding as follows: “We had no feast, he did not take a dowry after me. Konstantin Eduardovich said that since we will live modestly, his salary will be enough. ”

They say a new family is better built in a new place. Shortly after the wedding, the Tsiolkovsky couple began to live separately. At first, they settled not far from the school, but soon moved to Kaluga Street, in the house of ram Baranova. Life flowed modestly and measuredly, although not at all like that of the Bohr inhabitants. “I returned to my physical amusements and serious mathematical work,” says the scientist about this period. - In my house, electric lightning flashed, thunders rang, bells rang, paper dolls danced ... Visitors admired and marveled at the electric octopus, which grabbed everyone with its feet by its nose or fingers, and then it got hair stood on end and sparks popped up from any part of the body. A rubber bag inflated with hydrogen and carefully balanced by means of a paper boat with sand. "As if alive, he wandered from room to room, following the air currents, rising and falling." Thanks to "Physical Fun", the teacher of arithmetic and geometry gained fame among the residents of Borovsk.

Far from the main scientific centers of Russia, Tsiolkovsky began research work in the field of interest to him - aerodynamics. He began by developing the fundamentals of the kinetic theory of gases in 1881, and even sent his calculations to the Russian Physicochemical Society in St. Petersburg. Soon the answer came from Mendeleev: the kinetic theory of gases was already open ... 25 years ago. Professor Fan der Flitt, reporting on October 26, 1882 at a meeting of the physical department of society, his opinion about Tsiolkovsky’s research, said: “Although the article itself is not new and the conclusions in it are not quite accurate, it nevertheless reveals large ability and hard work, as the author owes his knowledge exclusively to himself. The author served as the only source for the essay presented by some elementary textbooks of mechanics, a course of observational physics by Professor Petrushevsky, and "Fundamentals of Chemistry" by Professor Mendeleev. In view of this, it is desirable to promote the further self-education of the author. ” The Society decided to petition the trustee of the Petersburg or Moscow District for the transfer of K.E. Tsiolkovsky, if he so wishes, to any city where he could use scientific aids. In addition, scientists unanimously accepted the provincial colleague as members of their community. “But I did not thank and did not answer anything (naive savagery and inexperience),” the young scientist remarks on this subject. But the matter is not only in “savagery and inexperience”. Lyubov Konstantinovna, daughter of Tsiolkovsky, reports another sad detail: his father did not have money to pay membership dues.

Konstantin Eduardovich did not leave Borovsk, however, he did not leave his research. True, their character has once again changed - now Tsiolkovsky was interested in biophysics, and he derived a formula for the dependence of the speed of movement of an animal in a liquid medium on its size. At first glance, it might seem that the researcher was engaged in unsystematic experiments in unrelated branches of knowledge (especially if we take into account the Ryazan period of hobbies with astronomy, constant physical experiments, the creation of a variety of self-propelled carts and unusual boats). In fact, the new work of the young scientist lies at the basis of his further works on aerodynamics, in addition, it fully corresponds to Tsiolkovsky's passion for Fedorism. The Borovsky teacher not only confirmed his faith in the habitability of other worlds, but also tried to find a relationship between the appearance of alien creatures and the size of the planets that they inhabit.

The researcher again sent his work to the Russian Physicochemical Society. The conclusion was given by physiologist I.M.Sechenov, who became interested in the conclusions of Tsiolkovsky: “The author adheres to the French school, and the conclusions made by him are partially known; but his work shows undoubted talent. He’s not ready for print, because he’s not finished. ” In the same 1883, Tsiolkovsky sent all the same to the Russian Physicochemical Society a study entitled “The duration of the radiation of the Sun”, and it received positive feedback from the famous physicist A. G. Stoletov. Tsiolkovsky himself speaks of his research as follows: “He puzzled over the sources of solar energy and independently came to the conclusions of Helmholtz. There was no rumor or spirit then about the radioactivity of the elements. Then these works were published in various magazines. ”

Another work done by a scientist in Borovsk is “Free space”. In essence, it is a fantastic story and represents the likeness of the scientific diary of a discoverer making a space trip. This diary, which began on Sunday February 20, 1883, was maintained until April 12. The researcher’s story about free space is saturated with many exact details: the world is devoid of horizontal and vertical, there is no force that can pull a weight of a plumb line, a person hangs "like a soaring bird, but only without wings." “It is terrible in this abyss,” wrote Tsiolkovsky, “unlimited by anything and without native objects around: there is no earth under the feet, there is no earthly sky!” However, on this, reflections on the cosmos in 1883 are interrupted: “This is far from a complete sketch, - the scientist specified, - I am finishing the description of the phenomena of free space. When I show that free space is not so infinitely far and achievable for humanity as it seems, then free phenomena will deserve more serious attention and interest from the reader. ”

After 1884, the main works of Tsiolkovsky were associated with four problems: the scientific substantiation of an all-metal aerostat (airship), a streamlined airplane, an air-cushion train, and rockets for interplanetary travel. It should be noted that even then the principle of jet propulsion took a big place in his thoughts.

Konstantin Eduardovich was very interested in the idea of \u200b\u200ban airship, and in 1887 made a report in Moscow, at the Polytechnic Museum, about a controlled balloon with a variable volume and a shell made of hard corrugated metal, presenting economic calculations of the feasibility of constructing such a structure. The manuscript “Aerostat Theory” remained in Moscow with N.E. Zhukovsky, which saved her from a fire in the Bohr house of Tsiolkovsky. Then there was a flood that destroyed most of the scientist's work, followed by another move. However, the talented inventor did not leave his research and continued in-depth reflections on a metal balloon.

Finally, the calculations are completed, the drawings are made, but of course, the teacher of the district school does not have the money for the construction of the operating model of the aerostat, and it cannot be. Tsiolkovsky is on a beaten track: he sends the results of his research and a paper model of a balloon to D. I. Mendeleev and asks in a letter “to provide him materially and morally as much as possible”. He fussed about three hundred rubles for the manufacture of a metal model and, probably, would have received them if not for the fundamental objections.

Mendeleev sent the received materials to the Russian Technical Society, and four days later the military engineer E. S. Fedorov (namesake of “Moscow Socrates”) wrote his conclusion. Tsiolkovsky’s project came to a specialist who was well acquainted with the question: in 1887, Fedorov himself designed a small balloon, but quickly realized the failure of his idea. But in 1890, a champion of aircraft heavier than air and a staunch opponent of balloons got acquainted with the Tsiolkovsky project. So Fedorov did not believe in the practical significance of the ideas of the Borovsk inventor, although he believed that “the energy and labor spent on drafting the project deserve moral support from the Technical Society”. On October 23, 1890, the VII department of this society refused to finance Tsiolkovsky.

A few days later, newspaper reports appeared. “The teacher of the district Borovsk school (in the Kaluga province), Tsankovsky (newspaper error),” wrote “News of the day,” “he drew up a balloon construction project. This project was considered in the Technical Society in St. Petersburg. Society found that the calculations were made correctly and that Mr. Tsankovsky’s ideas were correct; but the society refused him a monetary subsidy on the grounds that the projector did not take into account all the difficulties that might arise during the implementation of the project ... "But what the newspaper" Son of the Fatherland "reported:" The design of the balloon due to its large size is bad, the projector did not take into account difficulties in adhesion and adhesion of thin copper sheets of the balloon shell. Flying on such a balloon is dangerous: the shell can easily crack ... "

The funny thing was that in 1892, the Austrian inventor David Schwartz was invited by the Russian Ministry of War to build a balloon control device. The epic of the creation of the all-metal Schwartz balloon in St. Petersburg began, and in the special commission to control the work of the Austrian inventor participated ... employees of the VII department who so fiercely criticized the value of Tsiolkovsky's work. Schwartz’s idea failed: his balloon failed, the shell deformed when filled with gas, and it had to be released into the atmosphere. After the failure, the engineer returned to Germany, where his research was appreciated by the retired general Earl Ferdinand Zeppelin. He acquired a patent, and soon one after another zeppelins appeared - the famous German airships, which existed as much as 1940. It is difficult to assume that Schwartz did not know anything about the balloon K.E. Tsiolkovsky. He often talked with people who were aware of the Bohr teacher’s project; it could be read about even in the newspapers. Another book by Konstantin Eduardovich, “A Simple Teaching on the Airship and its Construction Method,” was not a secret document. The idea that his ideas fueled someone else's project brought a lot of grief to Tsiolkovsky.

Oddly enough, the inventor found support in Borovsk: Treasury employee I. A. Kazansky, teacher S. E. Chertkov, merchant N. P. Glukharev worked out thirty rubles each, and Konstantin Eduardovich ordered Volchaninov’s Moscow printing house his first book, “A metal-controlled balloon ". She went out of print after the Tsiolkovsky family moved to Kaluga. The publication was not commercially successful: on April 28, 1893, the book-trading company M.O. Wolf informed: “... since the last calculation, that is, from 6.XI-92, we sold 7 copies of your publication. "Metal Balloon". "

It must be said that the scientist firmly believed in the great future of the balloon and put his life to prove it to everyone and everything. Moreover, opponents of his conviction very quickly became his personal enemies. Nevertheless, the scientist showed considerable interest in the capabilities of aircraft heavier than air. Evidence of this - the work "On the issue of flying through the wings." Written in 1890–1891, it immediately gained recognition. The first part appeared in 1891 with the assistance of N. E. Zhukovsky in Volume IV of the Proceedings of the Department of Physical Sciences of the Society of Natural History Lovers. And the role of “plate elongation” (today called “wing extension”) discovered by Tsiolkovsky in determining the magnitude of the aerodynamic force formed the basis for many further developments of Russian aviation, in particular when creating the theory of wing calculation. In general, the prediction of E. S. Fedorov that “Mr. Tsiolkovsky can provide great aeronautics services over time, ”came true pretty quickly.

In 1892, Tsiolkovsky suddenly had to move to Kaluga - Konstantin Eduardovich was transferred to the service. The reason is unclear. V.E. Tsiolkovskaya claims that the caretaker of the Kaluga school, having heard about the teacher-inventor, decided to get him to himself. Perhaps another reason was the desire of Borovsky colleagues to get rid of their colleagues: like many representatives of the local intelligentsia, they considered Konstantin Eduardovich an incorrigible dreamer and utopian, some called him amateur and artisan, accused of revolutionary moods and scammed him. In fact, the inventor himself was also not of the best opinion about his colleagues: “The teaching staff was far from ideal. The salary was small, the city was squeezed, and the lessons were learned by (not quite clean) cunning: a deuce was exhibited for a quarter, or rich parents were naughty about the student’s lack of understanding. They took bribes, sold teacher diplomas to rural teachers. I did not know anything from my deafness and did not take any part in these bacchanalia. But nevertheless, to the extent possible, he prevented dishonest acts. Therefore, comrades dreamed of getting me off hand. This happened over time. ”

After moving to Kaluga K.E. Tsiolkovsky continued his aerodynamic experiments. He owns the idea of \u200b\u200bbuilding an airplane with a metal frame. The article “Airplane, or Bird-like (Aviation) Aircraft” (1894) gives a description and drawings of a monoplane, which in its appearance and aerodynamic layout anticipated aircraft designs that appeared 15–18 years later. The development of an all-metal freestanding monoplane with a thick curved wing is considered the scientist's greatest merit to aviation. He was the first to investigate this most common airplane scheme these days (by the way, he proposed “sliding wheels at the bottom of the hull”, ahead of the creation of the first landing gear in the Wright brothers' aircraft). In fairness, it should be noted that Tsiolkovsky himself did not seem to be aware of the prospects of his conclusions and conclusions. He wrote: "In 1894, I paid the last tribute to my enthusiasm for an airplane, having published the theoretical study Aeroplan in the journal Science and Life, but even in this work I pointed out the advantages of gas, metal, and air ships."

Soon after moving to Kaluga, the second part of the work “Aerostat metal controlled” was released. In this book, Tsiolkovsky first proposed the idea of \u200b\u200ban automatically operating steering wheel. He came up with a “regulator of the stable axis direction” - a prototype of the future autopilot. The automatic stabilizer proposed by Konstantin Eduardovich would hardly meet the requirements of today's aviation, but he possessed everything that the progenitor of an extensive family of such devices should have.

In 1895, with the money of his fellow countryman A. N. Goncharov, Tsiolkovsky published a fantastic novel “Dreams about Earth and Sky and the Effects of Earth's Gravity”, full of technical details of space travel (quite in the spirit of D. I. Pisarev - literature as a means of disseminating natural science knowledge ) This book received a derogatory review in the journal Scientific Review: “We would gladly call Mr. Tsiolkovsky a talented popularizer and, if you would, Russian Flammarion, if, unfortunately, this author knew a sense of proportion and was not interested in the laurels of Jules Verne. The book under review makes a rather strange impression. It is difficult to guess where the author reasoned seriously, and where he fantasizes or even jokes ... If the scientific explanations of K. Tsiolkovsky are not always sufficiently substantiated, then the flight of his fantasy is positively unstoppable and sometimes even surpasses Jules Verne’s nonsense, in which, in any case, is more scientific grounds ... "

The further fate of the story is interesting. Goncharov was so disappointed by the unfavorable reviews about the book and the ridicule of the author that he quarreled with Tsiolkovsky and pulled out almost the entire circulation (all the more so since the “Dreams” were sold out very badly). Today the book exists in a single copy in the personal library of K. E. Tsiolkovsky. Moreover, in the form of a publication prepared for publication by the author himself, it was published only once. Numerous subsequent editions appeared already in Soviet times and contained such a number of notes that the book "lost weight" every two times. The fact is that the popular science story on astronomy contained a lot of reasoning about the Creator, on which the fate of the Universe depends, as well as a story about the adventures of the soul, which is embodied either on Earth or in the asteroid belt - a hypothetical habitat of highly developed intelligent inhabitants of outer space. All these places were withdrawn, and in return the book was replenished with modern knowledge on astronomy, already completed in Soviet times.

However, Tsiolkovsky was engaged not only in science fiction. In 1897, he built a wind tunnel with an open working part and developed the experimental technique in it. The results of this work are summed up by the article “Air pressure on the surface, introduction to artificial air flow”. In 1898, it was published by the Odessa journal Vestnik of Experimental Physics and Elementary Mathematics. At first, the scientist had to attract family funds for research, but in 1900 he still received a subsidy of 470 rubles from the Physics and Mathematics Department of the Academy of Sciences, using which he determined the coefficient of resistance of a ball, a flat plate, a cylinder, a cone, and other bodies.

But the work on aerodynamics did not receive recognition. Tsiolkovsky had neither the means nor even the moral support for further research. The scientist wrote bitterly about this period of his life: “In my experiments, I made many, many new conclusions, but new conclusions are encountered incredulously by scientists. These conclusions may be confirmed by the repetition of my work by some experiment, but when will it be? It’s hard to work alone for many years under adverse conditions and not see any clearance or support from anywhere. ”

In the course of aerodynamic experiments K.E. Tsiolkovsky began to pay more attention to space problems. A year after "Dreams about Earth and Sky" an article was published about other worlds, intelligent beings from other planets and about the communication of earthlings with them, in 1897 - the story "Beyond the Earth", which in 1918 was published in the journal "Nature and people ”, and in 1920 it was published as a separate book. As early as 1896, Tsiolkovsky began writing his main work, “Space exploration using a jet engine,” in which he touched on the problem of using rocket engines in space. “After completing the mathematical records, Tsiolkovsky set the date mechanically: May 10, 1897,” writes the biographer of the outstanding researcher S. Monakhov. “Of course, he did not suspect for a second how much joy later historians would find when they found yellowed and wrinkled leaves. After writing the date of calculations, Tsiolkovsky, without knowing it, consolidated his primacy in matters of scientific space exploration. ”

The first part of the article “Investigations of World Spaces with Reactive Devices” was published in 1903 in the fifth issue of the journal Scientific Review. Soon this magazine was closed by the gendarmerie, and all editorial materials were confiscated, so that the work went unnoticed. In this article, Konstantin Eduardovich first proved: the only device capable of performing a space flight is a rocket. And he suggested using it to study high atmospheric layers, create an artificial Earth satellite and interplanetary travel.

Later, in 1910, K.E. Tsiolkovsky published in the Aeronaut magazine the article “Jet device as a means of flight in the void and in the atmosphere”, in which he laid the foundations of the theory of rockets and a liquid rocket engine. In 1911–1914, three more works by Konstantin Eduardovich on space flights appeared, as well as a reprint of the article “Investigations of World Spaces by Reactive Devices” in the journal “Aeronautics Bulletin”. Only then did the doctrine of the rocket spaceship be noticed by the public. “The resonance turned out to be big,” the editor of the publication, B. N. Vorobiev, recalled many years later. - Scientific and technical, and popular magazines, and the general press, and inventors responded. Numerous authors put forward designs for jet aircraft designs, popularized the idea of \u200b\u200bTsiolkovsky about the possibility of conquering spaces beyond the air layer of the Earth, and fantasized about the complete transformation of the structure of human society in this regard. ”

It should be noted that at that time a number of foreign scientists and engineers declared their priority. In 1902, while still a schoolboy, the American R. Goddard published in the journal Popular Science News an article entitled "The Navigation of Space", devoted to the prospects of rocket science and interplanetary travel. In the second article, he presented his ideas for a multi-stage space ship, which coincided with the views of Tsiolkovsky. Regardless of Konstantin Eduardovich, Goddard suggested that spacewalk would be possible if the reactive principle was used. In 1926, Goddard first launched a rocket with a liquid rocket engine.

The 1910s include the first ideas in the field of rocket science and astronautics that belong to the German scientist G. Obert. Like Goddard and Tsiolkovsky, Obert was obsessed with the idea of \u200b\u200bspace travel, but after the outbreak of World War I he was engaged in research into the problem of jet propulsion. In 1917, Obert proposed to the German defense department the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating long-range liquid fuel rockets, far ahead of R. Goddard, but the researcher's proposal was rejected as untimely. In 1922, Obert proposed to Goddard to divide the priority of the discovery of liquid rocket fuel, a year later he published the book Die Rakete zu den Planetenraumen (Rocket in Interplanetary Space) with a special caveat that any coincidence with Goddard’s theory is random. Obert’s book did in many respects repeat the work of the American, but contained a discussion of the problem of the influence of space travel on the human body and the creation of artificial satellites - topics that were considered just by K. E. Tsiolkovsky. Overt, however, in 1929 wrote to Konstantin Eduardovich: “Of course, I am the last one who would challenge your superiority and your merits in the matter of missiles, and I only regret that I heard about you not earlier than 1925. I would probably have gone much further in my own works today and would have managed without those many vain works, knowing your excellent works, ”but at the same time I asserted that I never borrowed ideas from Goddard or Tsiolkovsky and insisted on the authenticity of those conclusions. Like it or not, but German Obert significantly advanced Germany in the way of experiments with jet engines and liquid rocket fuel, which found its application in the development of V-2 missiles during the Second World War.

It was declared in the USSR that Goddard, and Obert, and Werner von Braun resorted to scientific plagiarism, that is, they simply used the ideas of Tsiolkovsky, without bothering to refer to him. There is no direct evidence or refutation of this, but all three could know about the works of a Russian scientist, although they always denied this fact and did not mention K.E. Tsiolkovsky in his works.

After the collapse of the USSR, in the wake of the “crushing of idols,” Konstantin Eduardovich, whose name was untouchable for decades, was declared a banal “inventor of the bicycle”, who did nothing significant for the appearance and development of space technology. Like, the Soviet cosmonautics did not know what she was doing, created a number of "fake authorities". The fact that the USSR was the first to “break into space” was “simply a historical accident”, and the Soviet Union chose “manned space exploration” as a priority, they say, in general, “a mistake of common sense”. Passages in quotation marks are quotes from the article by G. Salakhutdinov “The sad mistake of common sense” published in NG-Science (2000, No. 9). “The technical implementation of the idea of \u200b\u200ba rocket, including a space one, began completely independently of Tsiolkovsky. Cosmonautics as such would perfectly develop through Goddard, Obert, von Braun, who, in fact, became the founders of modern rocket science, ”other“ iconoclasts ”speak out on Internet forums.

Undoubtedly, both R. Goddard, and G. Obert, and V. von Braun really made great progress. However, the theoretical priority in many issues belongs to K. E. Tsiolkovsky - he published the most remarkable conclusions at the very beginning of the 20th century, long before the American and German scientists.

Konstantin Eduardovich has a confirmed priority for a number of ideas: a monoplane (1894), an artificial Earth satellite (1895), a wind tunnel (1897), a rocket equation (1903), and a multi-stage rocket (1929). Tsiolkovsky was the first in the world to describe the basic elements of a rocket engine, created the foundations of the theory of a liquid-propellant jet engine, expressed the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating interplanetary stations as artificial settlements using the energy of the sun, described the biomedical problems that may arise during long space flights, and calculated the optimal descent trajectories upon returning to Earth. However, these were precisely ideas that were not and could not be realized in his time - jet engines and rocketry were considered futile and insignificant, suitable only for amusement fireworks and illuminations.

In the future, the interests of the researcher completely switched to space exploration - moreover, it was not only a search for the technical capabilities of interplanetary flights, but also a philosophical justification for their necessity. This is how the brochures “The Second Law of Thermodynamics” (1914) and “Kinetic Theory of Light” (1919) appeared, in which the scientist tried to refute the validity of the conclusions of Clazius and Kelvin in relation to the Universe.

Surrendering to the dream of interplanetary travel, Tsiolkovsky wrote: “First you can fly on a rocket around the Earth, then you can describe one way or another relative to the Sun, reach the desired planet, approach or move away from the Sun, fall on it or leave completely, becoming a comet wandering many for thousands of years in the darkness, among the stars, until approaching one of them, which will become a new Sun for travelers or their descendants ... The best part of humanity, in all probability, will never die, but will move from the sun to the sun, as they die out ... There is no end to life, no end to the mind and the perfection of mankind. His progress is eternal. ” The secrets of the existence and progress of mankind did not give the outstanding researcher peace, and he proposed a program of active transformative activity in relation to all natural processes in accordance with the conscious needs and interests of man, in accordance with his goals.

Tsiolkovsky paid tribute to philosophy, although his views are shocking: the author’s ethical principles are too ambiguous and his passion for transformations is too great. So the brochure “Woe and Genius” (1916) appeared - the first in a series of eugenic utopias about the reorganization of human society, which will become possible when the path to genius is cleared: “Man is by nature an ungrateful, cruel and limited creature, which is evident from his relationship to pets. Man is like a disease that kills both good and evil without distinction. Only a few wise people make an exception, ”K. E. Tsiolkovsky will write later in“ Cosmic Philosophy ”, explaining the main points of his philosophical program.

The scientist proceeded from the fact that the immortal atom, which suffers from the need to stay in the body of plants, animals and "imperfect" people (cripples, criminals, the mentally ill, etc.), is the main carrier of life and feelings — a sort of materialistic interpretation of the idea of \u200b\u200breincarnation . Tsiolkovsky did not care about a specific living being, since his life is finite and this cannot be changed, but about the fate of atoms, which in his understanding travel forever from inorganic matter to organic matter, from body to body, live forever, but acquire a different quality of life depending from where the substance cycle will throw them.

It seemed unfair to the scientist that the atoms of a person, a creature who has reached a high level of development, in the framework of the natural cycle will inevitably fall into imperfect, unconscious bodies, into the bodies of plants and animals and will suffer even more than a person suffers. In his philosophical system, he set the goal to break this circle: if it is impossible to avoid the presence of human atoms after death in an inorganic nature, then it is quite possible to reduce the time they spend in the composition of lower living beings.

The mission of man is to reduce the stay of atoms in imperfect bodies. To do this, "both the Earth and other planets will have to be brought to order so that they are not a source of torment for atoms living in imperfect creatures." The ideal of the life of the future is unthinkable for Tsiolkovsky without the humane destruction of all animals in general and maintaining the minimum of plants necessary for man: “There are no animals anymore. One man left. The food is exclusively vegetable. The killing of not only people but also animals has ceased. Plants began to give more luxury in nutrition than the most refined meat dishes. Aquatic animals, without receiving the sun, must disappear or shrink to a minimum: great moral satisfaction, because the suffering of creatures from predatory fish, birds and animals that make aquatic habitats hell will cease. ” Finally, the main link is the gradual destruction of imperfect people. The most radical means are proposed for this: 1. The birth control for disabled members of society - people with disabilities, the mentally retarded, criminals, and seriously ill patients. 2. Artificial selection of parents, carried out by eligible leaders of the society from among the intellectual elite. 3. The creation of a caste society based on the election of the best people and the prohibition of marriages between representatives of societies of different classes.

It turns out a kind of reservation, if not literally in the physical sense, then certainly in the moral and intellectual. Over planning is striking, the desire to paint all spheres of a person’s life, especially personal and intimate, according to the rules of reason, to benefit from everything. There is no place for free choice, desires, feelings, even just surprises. Such brain constructions could not but cause objections from the contemporaries of Tsiolkovsky, and his philosophical works were not reprinted until recent years - his ideology really resembled the theory of “purity of the Aryan race”.

Brochures Monism of the Universe, Cause of the Cosmos, Formation of Solar Systems and Disputes about the Cause of the Cosmos, Future of the Earth and Humanity, Past Earth, Current State of the Earth, Will of the Universe. Unknown intelligent forces ”are full of guesses and assumptions, as well as ideas about the transformation of the Universe by the best of people who will turn into higher beings, deprived of their usual bodily shell and become clots of radiant energy. “The basis of my natural philosophy was a complete renunciation of the routine and knowledge of the Universe that modern science gives,” wrote Tsiolkovsky. - Science, observation, experience and mathematics were the basis of my philosophy. All preconceived ideas and teachings were thrown out of my mind, and I started all over again - from the natural sciences and mathematics. The one universal science of matter or matter was the basis of my philosophical thoughts. Astronomy, of course, played a leading role, as it gave a broad outlook. "Not only earthly phenomena were material for conclusions, but also cosmic: all these countless suns and planets."

After 1917, the technical developments of K.E. Tsiolkovsky became interesting to the new government, which provided him significant financial support (I must say that Konstantin Eduardovich tirelessly continued to popularize the idea of \u200b\u200ban all-metal balloon and again did not succeed). In 1919, the scientist was elected to the Socialist Academy (the future Academy of Sciences of the USSR), he was invited to live and work in Moscow, but he remained in Kaluga. In 1920, the Kaluga Society for the Study of Nature and the Local Territory released his work “Beyond the Earth” as a separate book with a circulation of 300 copies. “It seems to us that what has been said is enough to pay attention to the proposed fantastic novel by Tsiolkovsky, in which, in essence, there is very little imagination and all of whose numbers and explanations are based on strictly scientific data and are the fruit of very rigorous and difficult mathematical research,” written in the preface. In the same year, the brochure “Wealth of the Universe: Thoughts on a Better Social Structure” was published. On November 9, 1921, the scientist was assigned a life-long pension for services to domestic and world science.

Shortly before the revolution, Tsiolkovsky tried unsuccessfully to find like-minded people. But now the scientist was more than rewarded for a long inattention. “Dear Konstantin Eduardovich,” they wrote to him. - Your book “Beyond the Earth” is of deep interest. It is striking in its abundance of theoretical data, calculations and conclusions of a strictly scientific nature. ” “... A very, very good book, it really represents the whole picture of interplanetary travel. Each line, each phrase breathes, one might say, perfect correctness. You solve all difficulties encountered along the way through physics and mechanics, and do not bypass, as is usually done in almost all books. You have foreseen all cases of interplanetary communication, as if you yourself committed it more than once ... ”, wrote sixteen-year-old Odessa youth V.P. Glushko, subsequently a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

The works of Tsiolkovsky became interested in one of the most famous developers of jet rocket engines F. A. Zander, the founder of heliobiology, Soviet biophysicist A. L. Chizhevsky and other specialists in the field of rocket technology and jet propulsion.

Under Soviet rule, Konstantin Eduardovich worked a lot and fruitfully on the creation of a theory of the flight of jet aircraft, invented his own scheme of a gas turbine engine; and in 1927 he published the theory and design of a hovercraft. Then he published a work on a space rocket, then - the work "Rocket space trains", where he gave a detailed study of the motion of composite rockets. In 1932, the scientist developed the theory of the flight of jet aircraft in the stratosphere and the design of aircraft for flight at hypersonic speeds.

For "special merits in the field of inventions of great importance for the economic power and defense of the USSR" K. E. Tsiolkovsky in 1932 was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

After the death of an outstanding scientist, A. R. Belyaev wrote the novel “CEC Star”. KEC is Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. In the archive, where the typewriting with the copyright of the work was preserved, Alexander Romanovich created a monument to the scientist: “A platinum statue of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was visible in the large oval opening of the banner. He was portrayed sitting in his favorite working position - laying a plaque with paper on his lap. There was a pencil in his right hand. The great inventor, who showed people the way to the stars, seemed to interrupt his work, listening to what the speakers would say. The artist-sculptor conveyed with extraordinary expressiveness the tension of the face of a deaf old man and the joyful smile of a man who "had not lived in vain" for his long life. This silver-matte statue, effectively illuminated, left an unforgettable impression. ” The editor has deleted this paragraph, and is not in the final version of the novel.

On the eve of the centenary of the birth of the founder of modern astronautics in 1954, the USSR Academy of Sciences instituted a gold medal named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky “For outstanding work in the field of interplanetary communications”.